"Natural" cheese is made directly from milk by coagulating or curdling milk, stirring and heating the curd, draining off the whey, and collecting or pressing the curd. Desirable flavor and texture are obtained in many cheeses by curing the cheese, that is, holding it for a specified time, at a specific temperature and humidity. This basic method is used to produce a very large number of different types of cheese by altering time, temperature, pH, curd handling and other variables. More than 400 types of cheese are described in the bulletin "Cheese Varieties," U.S. Department of Agriculture Handbook, No. 54, 1953, revised 1969.
It is difficult to classify the different cheeses satisfactorily in groups. Cheeses have been classified, however, as (1) very hard (grating), (2) hard, (3) semi-soft, and (4) soft; and as ripened by bacteria, mold, surface microorganisms, or a combination of these, or as unripened. The following are examples of the cheeses in these classifications:
1. Very hard (grating): PA1 2. Hard: PA1 3. Semisoft: PA1 4. Soft:
(a) ripened by bacteria: Asiago (old), Parmesan, Romano, Sapsago, Spalen. PA2 (a) ripened by bacteria, without eyes: Cheddar, Granular or Stirred-curd and Caciocavallo; and PA2 (b) ripened by bacteria, with eyes: Swiss, Emmentaler, and Gruyere. PA2 (a) ripened principally by bacteria: Brick and Muenster; PA2 (b) ripened by bacteria and surface microorganisms: Limburger, Port du Salut and Trappist; and PA2 (c) ripened principally by blue mold in the interior: Roquefort, Gorgonzola, Blue, Stilton and Wensleydale. PA2 (a) ripened: Bel Paese, Brie, Camembert, Cooked, Hand and Neufchatel (as made in France); and PA2 (b) unripened: Cottage, Pot, Bakers', Cream, Neufchatel (as made in the U.S.), Mysost, Primost and fresh Ricotta.
It is well known to provide grated very hard cheese. The term "grated" means that small granules of the cheese are produced. The term "grated" does not mean that elongated shreds of the cheese are produced. Grated parmesan is a staple commodity in the market. Grated parmesan cheese is easily provided by simple grating of the cheese on a cheese grater. In the commercial distribution of grated parmesan cheese and other very hard cheeses, the grated particles are usually dried to about 20 percent moisture to improve the shelf life at ambient temperature of the grated cheese.
While there have been attempts to produce granulated cheese from hard cheese, no granulated hard cheese is at this time commercially available. U.S. Pat. No. 3,694,231 to Izzo describes a method for preparing shelf-stable finely divided cheese products. In the method, chunks of cheese and liquified cryogenic gas are introduced into a comminution chamber and are processed so that the cheese is frozen and ground. The resulting comminuted cheese particles are dried from the frozen state in a fluidized bed while maintaining a temperature below about 21.degree. C. The Izzo, et al. patent specifically indicates that vacuum drying of frozen particles is unsatisfactory for dehydration of cheese since the separated cheese products of both hard and soft cheeses are noticeably inferior in color, aroma and flavor, as compared with the natural cheese starting material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,847,107 to Linse-Loefgren describes a method for preparing finely divided pieces of cheese. In the method, fresh cheese is milled, the milled cheese is cooled to a temperature of from below 0.degree. C. to -50.degree. C., starch is added to and mixed with the chilled cheese and the chilled mixture is disintegrated into finely divided pieces. The finely divided pieces may be incorporated into a dry batter mix.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,836,368 to McCoy describes a general method for pulverizing normally soft substances which contain water. In the method, the substance which may be coarse particles of a food containing natural water, such as potatoes, spinach or apples, are first frozen to a solid and the pieces are thereafter pulverized at low temperature.
Grated cheese, such as cheddar cheese, has not been possible to produce because of oiling off of the fat during the grating or disintegration process. It is known to provide shredded cheese, such as cheddar cheese, and recently very fine shreds of grated cheddar cheese have been produced and marketed. Such very fine shreds are usually about 1/16th to 1/8th inch in width and have a length of from about 3/4 to about 11/4 inches.
It would be desirable to provide grated cheese, such as cheddar cheese, which has a particle size similar to that of grated very hard cheese, such as parmesan cheese. Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a method for producing grated cheese or granules of cheese. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for producing grated cheese which does not result in oiling off during the grating process.
These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying claims.